May 20

May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (141st in leap years). There are 225 days remaining.

Births:

• 1768: Dolly Madison, American First Lady
• 1799: Honoré de Balzac, French novelist
• 1806: John Stuart Mill, British philosopher
• 1830: Hector Malot, French writer of Without family
• 1844: Henri Rousseau, French naive painter
• 1901: Max Euwe, Dutch world champion chess 1935-1937
• 1905: Gerrit Achterberg, Dutch poet
• 1908: Jimmy Stewart, American actor
• 1911: Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch children books writer
• 1915: Moshe Dayan, Israelian general
• 1933: Danny Aiello, American actor
• 1944: Joe Cocker, British singer
• 1944: Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
• 1946: Cher, American singer
• 1958: Ronald Prescott Reagan, American talk show host, son to former president Ronald Reagan
• 1959: Bronson Pinchot, American actor

Deaths:

• 1277: Pope John XXI
• 1471: Henry VI King of England
• 1506: Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer
• 1622: Osman II, sultan of Turkey and emperor of the Ottoman Empire
• 1896: Clara Schumann, Austrian composer

Events:

• 1498: Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta, India
• 1521: Battle of Pampeluna
• 1690: England passes Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II
• 1891: first public display of Thomas Alva Edison's kinetoscope (see Film history)
• 1927: Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)
• 1954: Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
• 2002: East Timor independence (expected date)

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See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

May 19 - May 21 - April 20 - June 20 - more historical anniversaries